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Media Literacy

Back in the day people used to get most of their news from papers, radio or TV bulletins. Now, pretty much anyone can put info out there online. Sometimes that's a good thing, other times not so much. To help you sort fact from fiction, ABC Education and the team from BTN have created some special videos and other fun resources for Media Literacy Week this week. But why is it important to learn these skills anyway?

Discussion Questions

1. What was the main point of the BTN Media Literacy story?

2. Give some examples of different types of media. Share with the class.

3. How much media are most young Aussies consuming every day? a. 2 hours b. 4 hours c. 8 hours

4. Why are some experts worried about the way young Aussies consume the media?

5. On some social media sites fake news spreads faster than real news. True or false?

6. What does it mean when the media is biased?

7. How are advertisers getting clever about getting people to buy things?

Comments

I think this story shows people that not everything is 100% true that is on the internet, Facebook, Instagram...

This shows that people post things that aren't true. - Pamela

This makes me feel like i shouldn't play much on my i pod or the i pad and watch T.V. Because we need to connect to the world and learn reel stuff not fake - charlize

it relly doesn't matter if you don't play games or whact news - riley

I like this video alot

- Dude

Hi BTN

I never knew that honey was actually bee vomit. thank you - ham

Oh, I'll have to be careful on the internet for now on. This is important information that everybody should see! - Gabrielle

I think that this is great because now that I know that not everything is not true that's on the internet I won't go on the internet so much. YAY! - Holly

I think that this proves to people that using YouTube and social media for a long time is wasting your time when you could be doing more important things. - Rhiannon

I think that this is not very surprising since I have lived with all of this through out life and its just something I have to deal with same with everyone else and that's what I have to say. - Ben

I think that this news report has an impact on me because now I know that not all information on the internet is 100% true. :) - Maddie

it doesn't have an impact on me - oliver

Great job BTN - Mr. Willis

Broadcast:
Tue 11 Sep 2018, 10:00am

Transcript

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From the moment you wake up in the morning, all the way to when you go to bed at night, you're consuming media. You're taking in videos, TV shows, movies, social media, books, games, magazines, ads and, of course, news and it's all feeding you information.

KID 1: I look at Instagram while I'm eating breakfast usually.

KID 4: Usually it's YouTube and sometimes I watch the news.

KID 2: I consume media for about an hour and a half per day.

KID 4: YouTube I'm probably on for about two hours a day.

But not all of that info is necessarily good info. And that's why experts are worried that you guys might not have the skills to help you understand and analyse all of the stuff you're seeing.

For instance, do you think you can tell the difference between real news and fake news? If you think you can, that's great. Give yourself a pat on the back but you might want to be really, really sure about that because studies show that on some social media sites, fake news spreads further and faster than real news. Even adults often struggle to tell the difference.

There are other problems that can be even harder to spot like, can you tell when something or someone in the media is biased? That's basically like leaning towards an opinion about something without taking in all of the facts. Bias in the media can be obvious but it can also be pretty subtle, and it can have a big impact on our opinions.

Finally, do you know when something's an ad? This one seems easy, after all they're simple to spot on TV. But advertisers are pretty clever about getting people to buy things. Now they use social media posts, articles, blogs and videos to sell things and it's not always easy to tell when someone's been paid to promote a product.

This is why a lot of people and organisations are now talking about media literacy. It's basically like any other kind of literacy, like learning to read. But this kind, is about learning to read between the lines of everything you see, hear or read.

So next time you're consuming your favourite kind of media, remember to stop and question whether the info you're getting is disgustingly dodgy or deliciously correct and fair.

Credits

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